THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
9 
THE PROSPECT. 
Another great boom for the use of green cut bone 
as a poultry food is passing over the country. It was 
long ago settled that this form of bone presents a very 
cheap source of “ muscle-makers ” for the hen. As 
usual, any reference to this subject calls out ques¬ 
tions from those who want to know if the cut bone 
will not make a good fertilizer. The green bones cut 
up much easier than the dry ones, and also contain 
more nitrogen because of their meat and gristle. We 
do not advise the use of green bone as fertilizer, be¬ 
cause its feeding value is very much greater than its 
plant food value. The hens will make it into eggs 
with far more profit than plants can make it into vege¬ 
table food. It can also be fed to hogs with profit. If 
to be used as a fertilizer, it should be thoroughly dried 
as soon after cutting as possible. Put in thin layers 
and dust thickly with plaster, mixing carefully as it 
dries out. It contains nitrogen and phosphoric acid, 
but no potash. 
O 
Webster gives a number of definitions of the word 
“ laziness,” but all agree that the predominating char¬ 
acteristic of the lazy man is to decline to move his 
muscles any more than he can help. A friend in Con¬ 
necticut objects in this way to what we said about 
lazy men on page 7G5 : 
Referring to the article on page 765 about laziness, I don’t call it 
laziness, not by a long shot. Would the writer of that article call 
a man lazy that invented a plow and had his horses plow his fields 
instead of digging them up with a spade? Is a man lazy that in¬ 
vents a mowing machine and rides all day instead of breaking his 
back with a scythe ? I call it progress and any one that thinks it 
is laziness is “ off his base.” 
If our friend Adll add the words “ in my opinion ” to 
his last sentence we will agree with him. As to the 
question we answer “ No—not so far as that action is 
concerned.” If, however, the man’s sole aim in in¬ 
venting was to save himself work that he might well 
have done without loss to himself or his dignity, we 
should call him lazy. The motive rather than the deed 
makes laziness and always will. 
O 
Having closed 1894 with a dig at the creamery 
shark, we can hardly begin 1895 better than by giving 
him another in the short ribs. Here is a letter from 
one of our readers in La Crosse County, Wis. : 
I wish to emphasize what you say about the creamery sharks. 
I know of a village that eight years ago was desirous of starting 
a creamery—at least, the merchants who were handling the but¬ 
ter were. The creamery shark found it out, and was ready to jjut 
in a plant complete for $5,000. But I found by investigating, that 
they did not need so expensive an outfit. Not being able to enlist 
the farmers in this new enterprise, two of the merchants put up a 
building and put in the necessary machinery at a cost of $1,500. 
The first year they paid out some $20,000 to the farmers for cream. 
They run it five years, building on as the increase of business de¬ 
manded. At the end of that time, the farmers organized, bought 
the creamery, and have run it since. During the year just fin¬ 
ished, $110,000 have been paid for cream at this creamery. Farm¬ 
ers are well satisfied, and find it pays to hire good help, one man 
having been employed to make the butter during all this time. He 
now receives $1,000 per year, showing that it pays a young man 
to learn to do work right. 
We are glad to print that, because it shows what we 
have always claimed—a creamery can be made a suc¬ 
cess if it is started right and the first cost is not too 
high. These creamery sharks want an immense bonus 
of profit—too big a profit for any ordinary community 
to pay. 
O 
After a recent storm, an able-bodied man was seen 
clearing the snow from the sidewalk with a fire shovel. 
What a ridiculous spectacle ! Yet it’s just the sort of 
business we see continually. Men of ability who might 
accomplish great things, fritter away their time at 
little, insignificant jobs that amount to nothing. The 
farmer who might make his farm keep a dozen or a 
score or more of good cows, and thus accomplish 
something that would count, goes through all the 
motions for two or three scrubs, and has nothing to 
show for it after he is through. Another might raise 
extra crops if he would only lay his plans broad and 
deep, and push them through vigorously; but, instead, 
he fools away his time and strength on a little patch 
of this and a little piece of something else, the whole 
of which makes no show worth mentioning. Nothing 
will drive an ambitious, capable boy away from the 
farm so quickly as this picayune business ; this wasted 
energy with nothing to show for it. Of all people, a 
boy needs the stimulus of visible results accomplished 
to encourage him. He likes to do work that shows up 
big, too. Do you intend to use a big shovel in your 
work this year, or will you be content with a sort of 
fire-shovel business that doesn't take much energy to 
use, and doesn’t show any results worth mentioning? 
O 
We cannot see that what our friend says about the 
“ model middleman” on page 6, disagrees very much 
with the position The R. N.-Y. has often stated. Some 
sort of a middleman is needed to sell goods. The man 
who grows a bushel of potatoes cannot always go 
out and hunt up a retail customer. Some farmers 
near large towns can do that, but those any distance 
away from market must divide in some way with the 
handler or seller. All will agree to that. It seems 
clear to us that where the handler is a member of a 
family or a former neighbor, the producer will get a 
fairer share than he would by sending produce to one 
who had no personal interest in the matter. Of course, 
we assume that both middlemen are good sellers. We 
know enough of the Pennsylvania man to believe that 
his scheme will work, and that a third party can live 
on the share previously paid for handling and selling. 
We advise cooperation in buying, selling and insuring 
wherever these things can be fairly done. We fail to 
see that farmers are under any special obligation to 
provide agents and middlemen with jobs when they 
can unite and do their own work. In saying this, we 
recognize the fact that very few farmers recognize the 
duties that devolve upon all who join a cooperative 
company. That is why general farm cooperation is a 
long way off. 
O 
Whenever one puts in a mild word in favor of gov¬ 
ernment control of railroads, the so-called wise men 
are prompt to laugh at the absurdity of such a thing. 
A few weeks ago, The R. N.-Y. advanced the proposi¬ 
tion that when a railroad came to the point where a 
receiver was needed to look after the interests of its 
stockholders and creditors, the public officials of the 
State could run the business just as well as a high- 
priced receiver. In Georgia, we are told, a railroad 
company defaulted on the interest due on bonds guaran¬ 
teed by the State. The road was seized and controlled 
under the direction of Governor Northend. Here is 
his first report: 
At the expiration of the first six months of service, the road had 
earned more than enough, above operating expenses, for the pay¬ 
ment of the amount of semi-annual interest on the bonds, and I 
ordered the same paid for the six months covering the time of the 
control of the property by the State. 
Under the old management, a good share of the in¬ 
comes were paid as salaries to a lot of “ ornamentals ” 
who did little or no actual work, but were paid a bonus 
for some “ job ” or service done in days gone by. The 
State was under no obligation to retain these “ wall 
flowers,” and they “went,” while their former salaries 
went to pay the just debts of the company. Those very 
men would have had influence in the appointment of 
a receiver. Here is one instance, then, of success in 
State control of a railroad. While this does not prove 
that such a system would be equally successful in all 
instances, it certainly shows that such an arrangement 
is possible. 
O 
Here is another example of cooperation in insur¬ 
ance. The advantages of such a plan are very evident 
to us : “ All our insurance companies expect the pre¬ 
miums to pay the losses, and besides that, good liberal 
salaries to the officers, a commission to the agents, 
and a little profit besides. We have cut down these 
expenses somewhat by a farmers’ mutual insurance 
company. Our secretary, who is a farmer, gets $1.50 
per day of 10 hours, and his pay, including stationery, 
printing and postage, amounts to about $175 a year. 
The president receives $30 per annum, and the vice 
president and three directors $2 for each meeting of 
the board; this amounts to about $14 a year for each, or 
a grand total of $200 a year for running expenses. 
When a loss occurs, the money is borrowed and the 
loss is paid. At the end of the year, the assessments 
are used to repay the borrowed money. At the end 
of the first year, we had $276,534 of property insured, 
and the amount has increased to over $2,000,000 all in 
this one county. We pay our losses by assessments on 
the property insured, and our rates during the 17 
years we have been running, have varied from 50 
cents to $3.30 per annum on $1,000, and have averaged 
$1.85. This is $9.25 for five years per $1,000, or about 
one-half what other companies charged. We have all 
the privileges enjoyed by those insured in any of the 
companies, and when a loss occurs, have our neigh¬ 
bors for adjusters instead of some one whose sole 
study and object is to settle with us and give as little 
as possible.” f. m. mitchell. 
Huron County, O. 
G 
Farmers should not be blind to the efforts now being 
made in their behalf by the more progressive agri¬ 
cultural colleges. These institutions are reaching out 
most helpful hands to the young farmer, with a single¬ 
ness of purpose and an ability that deserve the full¬ 
est respect and support. The “ short course” idea is 
proving the key-note to their success. A single term 
during the winter months is specially arranged for 
farmer boys who cannot afford a longer course, the 
instruction given is so practical and the method of 
imparting so thorough, that the student acquires 
knowledge and practice that will be a source of profit 
and satisfaction to him as long as he continues farm¬ 
ing. All modern appliances for instruction are used, 
and wherever possible, the student performs the 
operations treated of in the lectures, with his own 
hands, either with the actual materials, or with skill¬ 
fully prepared models. At the University of Wiscon¬ 
sin, a large glass house has recently been constructed, 
in which the natural soil bottom is unobstructed by 
posts or benches, and where the students perform all 
the operations of garden and nursery work usually 
carried on in the open air, independent of weather or 
season. Surely no possession can be more valuable to 
the young farmer than a thorough knowledge of the 
latest discoveries, and most modern methods relating 
to his business. This will prove to him a capital that 
cannot be exhausted by drafts, that cannot be taxed, 
that requires no insurance or repairs and that cannot 
be lost or wasted so long as it is used. The cost of 
this valuable fund of knowledge has been made so 
low that almost the only expense connected with it is 
the student’s board while in attendance. At present, 
the University of Wisconsin and Cornell University 
are leading in this most important work, but other in¬ 
stitutions are falling into line. 
O 
The picture on page 3 is taken from Bulletin 52 of 
the Indiana Experiment Station (La Fayette). It 
shows plants of a dangerous weed, prickly lettuce 
(Lactuca scariola), growing in a neglected yard. The 
board fence is six feet high, and some of the plants 
overtop it by six inches. The bulletin referred to is 
issued to call attention to this weed, and suggest 
means for fighting it. Ten years ago, it might have 
seemed strange to think of a public pamphlet devoted 
to the work of organizing a warfare against a weed, 
yet to-day we all recognize that this is a perfectly 
legitimate work for our experiment stations, and 
farmers welcome all helps in learning the weak points 
of their weed enemies. Well they may, for the time 
and labor spent in killing weeds are enormous, and a 
large proportion of this great waste of time and 
energy, is due to the fact that through ignorance or 
carelessness, we permit these weeds to mature and 
seed the land. For example, look at that picture. In 
that neglected back yard, we can count 29 healthy 
plants in about 1% panel of fence. It is stated in this 
bulletin that a plant of average size contained 8,250 
seeds. It is, therefore, safe to say that the small por¬ 
tion of that fence in view is a nursery for 239,424 seeds, 
each one of which has been specially provided by the 
evil one with a flying machine so that the wind may 
carry it about and drop it upon the soil of the thrifty 
farmer who has pretty well conquered his own crop of 
“ plant devils.” The people who maintain such weed¬ 
breeding establishments as the one shown in the 
picture are as morally culpable as those who turn live 
stock loose in the roads to break down fences, and in¬ 
jure crops. It is simply a difference of degree in the 
amount of injury done. The moral principle is the 
same, and if the law recognizes this principle in re¬ 
spect to live stock, the weed breeder should be liable 
to a penalty. We hope this bulletin will result in a 
sound weed law for Indiana—one that will not only 
be passed but enforced. This prickly lettuce is an 
annual closely resembling the cultivated varieties. It 
comes from seed each year like ragweed—not growing 
up from the roots like wild carrot, parsnip or dock. It 
is not thought probable that it can be exterminated 
from American soil, but it should be kept down as far 
as possible by timely mowing and uprooting, so that 
the seed cannot be ripened. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
Do you know how easy it Is to get one of our good books? If 
not, ask us. We’ll tell you. 
Owing to complaints received concerning the Simplex hatcher, 
made at Quincy, Ill., we have decided to discontinue its advertise¬ 
ment pending investigation. 
Kino & Co., 10 Church Street, Owego, N. Y., make a good har¬ 
ness and sell direct from the factory to farmers and others. There 
is a chance to save the middlemen’s profit. 
No use of any one being idle this winter. Thk R. N.-Y. has work 
for every one willing and able to work. We want your time 
whether it is for an occasional hour or for the whole winter. 
The annual catalogue of the Keystone woven wire fences, is 
just out. It contains much practical information on the fence 
subject. Be sure to get it. Address, Keystone Woven Wire Fence 
Co., 49 Locust Street, Tremont, Ill. 
Thkkk isn’t much to say about the Aspinwall potato planter 
that has not already been said in The R. N.-Y. Every one who 
makes any pretense of growing potatoes, however, should have 
the descriptive catalogue of The Aspinwall Mfg. Co., Jackson, 
Mich., for the planter and other machinery. 
Tiie commission men of this city complain that considerable 
butter arrives in damaged condition. The top is smeared or dusty 
and consequently unattractive to purchasers, and low prices fol¬ 
low. We would again urge that no one ever ship butter to any 
market without a careful covering of parchment butter paper. If 
not at local stores, A. G. Elliot & Co., Philadelphia, will furnish it. 
It’s cheap, too. 
We have said considerable about pantasote recently, because 
there are many who do not know what it is. It is much like 
leather, and is said to wear longer, and certainly looks and feels 
as if it would. The Pantasote Leather Co., 41 Leonard Street, New 
York, are now selling buggy cushions covered with pantasote at 
the cost of manufacture in order to make pantasote better known, 
The cushions are made by a first-class house. The cost of the 
cushion is $1.75. 
The well-known stump machine manufacturers, formerly of 
Scotch Grove, la., have recently organized under the title of the 
Milne Mfg. Co., and moved to Monmouth, Ill., where they have 
greater facilities for the manufacture and shipment of their stump 
pullers, as demanded by increased trade. The firm was formerly 
known as Jas. Milne & Sons. The change, however, is only in 
name. Messrs. Milne & Sons still conduct the business, which is 
an assurance of its stability and honorable dealings. 
It is evident from what Mr. Jacobs says this week that meat of 
some sort must be used if one is to make up a strong poultry 
ration. Notice how a hen will run at the merest suggestion of a 
fat worm, and you get an idea of the value of a strong ration for 
laying hens. We must mix food so that it will closelv resemble 
the composition of the worm if we want eggs. One easy way to do 
that is to use “Animal Meal" made by the Bowker Fertilizer Co., 
Boston, Mass. This product is dry and fine, ail ready for use, and 
can be mixed as easily as corn meal. Don’t feed too much fat. 
Try “Animal Meal” once. 
